SEETHER: The Surface Seems So Far (ALTERNATIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Long seen as a distant heir to grunge's founders, such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Seether have been able to appropriate the genre's codes while injecting a more modern touch, somewhere between post-grunge and alternative rock. However, with each passing album, this original filiation seems to have been diluted, gradually losing the raw, imperfect essence that made grunge so appealing. Already, their last album “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum” and the following EP, which were too polished, had begun to lose this flavor.

So it was with high expectations that “The Surface Seems So Far” arrived, and if some were hoping for a creative rebound for the band, the response is somewhat mixed. The album, born in a post-pandemic context, seems to have pushed the band to re-evaluate its formula, with more thoughtful choices but sometimes lacking instinct. What emerges is a dark, introspective work, sometimes too well mastered to the detriment of the raw energy that made their reputation.

The alternative aspect now largely dominates the post-grunge aesthetic, and this evolution, while understandable, is reminiscent of other bands like Pearl Jam, and perhaps even the trajectory Nirvana would have followed had fate not decided otherwise. The opening track, 'Judas Mind', embodies this ambivalence perfectly, with screams that seem more the product of a nostalgic wink than a genuine emotional necessity. Like 'Illusion' and 'Try To Heal', these are well-crafted compositions that fail to surprise.

That said, Seether have not lost their bite. The arrangements are meticulous, and the production highlights the incisive riffs and shifting rhythms, capable of suddenly dazzling passages, as in 'Dead On The Vine'. You can feel that the band still has ideas, even if the execution sometimes lacks that grain of madness, that imperfection that made their first albums so lively.

The band have never been strangers to a certain duality between introspection and rage, but here everything seems too controlled, too calculated. “The Surface Seems So Far” often flirts with interesting ideas, but ends up falling a little short. However, it would be premature to bury the band. The album, though too smooth at times, still shows that they can surprise, provided they rediscover that grain of spontaneity missing from this production. - Official website

SEETHER

THE SURFACE SEEMS SO FAR

UNIVERSAL

ALTERNATIVE ROCK